After 135 Days of Uncertainty, Pennsylvania Budget Passes, But Survivors Are Still Left Waiting
HARRISBURG, PA. — For 135 days, rape crisis centers across Pennsylvania have been pushed beyond capacity, laying off staff, taking out loans, and stretching already-thin budgets to make sure survivors were not left alone.
Today, the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR) welcomes the long-delayed passage of the state’s 2025–2026 budget but says the 2.1% funding increase for rape crisis services barely scratches the surface of what’s needed to sustain life-saving care across the Commonwealth.
“For more than four months, centers have been pushed to the brink — taking out loans, reducing staff, and shifting timelines just to keep services available,” said Yolanda Edrington, CEO of Respect Together. “We’re grateful lawmakers took action to end the impasse, but survivors deserve more than temporary relief. They deserve lasting stability.”
Survivors Paid the Price for Pennsylvania’s Delay
Since the budget was due on June 30, funding to schools, counties, and community organizations has been frozen. For rape crisis centers, that meant continuing to provide round-the-clock services without reimbursement or certainty of funding.
Even under that strain, Pennsylvania’s 47 rape crisis centers kept showing up. In just August and September, advocates provided 17,456 hours of counseling and advocacy, answered 2,897 hotline calls, and accompanied hundreds of survivors to hospitals, forensic exams, and courtrooms.
Each of those numbers represents a survivor. A teenager in a rural county finally finding the courage to call for help, a mother seeking safety for her children, a queer survivor looking for someone who believes them.
“Even with this small increase, centers are still being asked to do the impossible when it comes to meeting the expanding needs of their communities,” Edrington said. “Survivors deserve to know that help will be there when they need it most. That means consistent, adequate, and reliable funding.”
Communities Bearing the Burden
The harm of underfunding is not shared equally. Low-income families, LGBTQIA+ individuals, Black and Brown survivors, and rural Pennsylvanians face the steepest barriers when services are reduced or delayed.
During the impasse, advocates reported growing waitlists for counseling and shrinking prevention programs. In many communities, the only advocate for miles was the one working overtime to make sure survivors didn’t slip through the cracks.
While centers delivered over 1,600 prevention and education programs reaching more than 35,000 Pennsylvanians this fall, many were forced to postpone additional trainings that could have reached more students, parents, and educators.
“When budgets are delayed, it’s not numbers on a spreadsheet that suffer — it’s people,” said Joyce Lukima, PCAR’s Coalition Director/Chief Operating Officer. “It’s the survivor in a rural county who has to drive two hours for counseling, the LGBTQIA+ teen looking for a safe place to talk, or the working parent who can’t afford time off to seek help.”
A Small Step, When Survivors Need a Lifeline
For more than five years, rape crisis centers have operated with flat funding while costs for staffing, utilities, and program delivery have continued to rise. The modest $250,000 increase in this year’s budget, amounting to just over 2%, is far from enough to stabilize the network or meet the growing demand for services.
PCAR is urging lawmakers to take the next step by committing to an $8 million increase in the Department of Human Services line item for rape crisis services in the 2026–2027 budget.
“Pennsylvania’s rape crisis centers are on the front lines of healing and prevention,” Edrington said. “If we want safer, healthier communities, we must fund the people and programs that make that possible.”
A Call to Keep Listening
Pennsylvania’s 47 rape crisis centers serve all 67 counties, offering counseling, medical and legal advocacy, and prevention education — all free and confidential. Yet without adequate, reliable funding, this safety net grows weaker each year.
This week’s budget passage brings relief, but not recovery. For thousands of survivors who turned to their local centers during the impasse, and for the advocates who never stopped answering the phone, stability remains the goal still out of reach.
“We’re grateful to every lawmaker who listened and took a step in the right direction,” Edrington said. “Now we need to take the next step by building a budget that fully reflects the right to safety, dignity, and justice for every Pennsylvanian.”
About PCAR
The Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR) is the statewide division of Respect Together. PCAR partners with a network of rape crisis centers that serve all 67 counties in the commonwealth, providing support to survivors and promoting safe, respectful communities.
Media Contacts
Demetrius Archer
Director of Communications, Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR)
267-746-9368
darcher@pcar-respecttogether.org